Italian heritage tomato loved by Nelson locals

ITALIAN HERITAGE TOMATO

LOVED BY NELSON LOCALS

Words by Anne Hardie

The creases and comical shapes of Bettina Romano’s Isle of Capri tomatoes are all part of their appeal to her loyal Nelson customers.

Tucked away at the base of a hill near Cable Bay in Nelson, Bettina produces 10 tonnes of the heritage variety each year, continuing a Romano family business that spans three generations. The Italian tomato was brought to the Nelson region with the early Italian settlers and the Romanos were one of the families to establish market gardens in an area known as The Wood. Back then, the tomatoes sat on the edge of the town centre and by the 1940s much of The Wood was covered in glasshouses until Nelson’s growing population slowly replaced them with houses. When Bettina married Nick Romano, her father-in-law Tony was still growing tomatoes in his glasshouses in The Wood and she used to help pick the fruit and take them to market. Then the couple bought a 4ha lifestyle block where they could raise their two kids in a rural setting and Tony saw an opportunity to continue the family business. He offered Bettina the glasshouses and he would teach her all he knew about growing his Capri tomatoes. It entailed shifting three glasshouses that ranged from 25m in length down to the smallest at 16m. The structure of the latter was shifted in one piece, while the others were dismantled and resurrected on the lifestyle block by Nick. Shifting the glass panels was another story and Bettina would pick up several panels every time she picked the kids up from kindergarten in The Wood. Plastic replaced the former glass roofs and once they were set up, Tony set about teaching her how to grow the meaty red tomato. “He would show up in his car at 6am and get into it and be there until lunchtime.”

The Italian tomato was brought to the Nelson region with the early Italian settlers and the Romanos were one of the families to establish market gardens in an area known as The Wood

That was 20 years ago and today Bettina has two glasshouses growing the Capri tomatoes while the third grows a mix of aubergines, Lebanese cucumbers and Flavorino cocktail tomatoes.

Back in Italy, Bettina says the low-acid Capri variety was often used for making tomato purée – passata – to pour over pasta or use on pizzas. Or the fresh tomatoes were used in a salad with mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

“My customers like their natural form and the fact they are all different. People think of a tomato as being smooth, round and red, but these have creases and a lot more character.

“They also say they are more gentle on their stomachs and they don’t get mouth ulcers.”

“I’m one of those few people who love my job,” she says. “I’ll do this until I die and I’d like to live to eighty at least.”

Every two days she harvests about 200kg of the Capri that are then sold to customers at the Saturday Nelson Market, the Wednesday Farmer’s Market, to restaurants or in the van at the gate which does a good trade through its honesty box. “They’re mostly locals buying from the van and I’ve had people write notes with their cellphone number because they haven’t had the money at the time. “I’ve been doing it so long now that I have a good client base and at the Saturday market people know the Romano name, so it’s a little niche market. I’m not competing with the big growers because it is a specialty tomato, which makes me a little fish in a big sea which is doable for me.” Even through the Covid-19 lockdown last year, she was still able to supply a couple of shops that were still open and some restaurants that were making up food for customers. Plus, the van was still at the gate for locals to buy tomatoes and the other vegetables, so she was able to sell all her produce through those weeks. Being a specialty tomato that is sought after by her customers means she achieves $7/kg throughout the season. Nick sadly passed away eight years ago and these days Bettina gets some help from her partner when he isn’t working, plus her daughter helps bag and grade tomatoes. Otherwise, it’s largely a one-woman business that runs from the beginning of September when the tomatoes are planted, through to May. Then it’s clean-up time through winter and preparation for the next season. Until three years ago, she grew the tomatoes from seed; selecting the best trusses, covering them with newspaper as Tony had shown her and taking the seeds through to planting. Now she gets Zealandia to graft 1,000 Capri onto Maxifort rootstock, and that means she no longer has to clean a glasshouse in preparation for the seeds or heat it through winter. Buying the plants costs more than growing her own, at $6 a plant, but it’s easier and the plants yield better. “They deliver them on the first of September and all I have to do is plant them.” Outside the glasshouses, Bettina grows fennel and has just started experimenting with globe artichokes to add to the Mediterranean assortment she offers her customers. She also grows Christmas trees on her block of land, which was a sideline business she began with Nick back in 1997. This past Christmas her son managed the Christmas tree rush, selling just over 300 trees. From a block of bare land, the 4ha is now covered with a mix of trees surrounding garden and glasshouses, which enables the family to be semi self-sufficient. It’s a lifestyle Bettina loves.

Bettina’s Capris